


Coffee and Biscuits

by Goldy



Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Companions are the best, F/M, Gen, Martha Jones and Rose Tyler are BFFs in my head, No angst here
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-07-28
Updated: 2014-07-28
Packaged: 2018-02-08 19:09:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,388
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1952718
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Goldy/pseuds/Goldy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Rose asks Martha out for coffee. Post-S3.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Coffee and Biscuits

  
Martha Jones walked into a small café in London, purse slung over one shoulder and heels clicking against the floor. Inside, she stopped and fiddled with an errant strand of hair. Slowly, she swept her gaze around the room.

It took her a few minutes to find Rose.

Martha had spent more time than she’d care to admit trying to picture what Rose Tyler looked like. Blonde, Jack had said, and she immediately thought of Annalise. She’d be petite. Delicate. Not _too_ delicate, mind, given the way the Doctor went on about her. Graceful, certainly. She’d be pretty, but in a sterile kind of way—like a picture in a magazine.

But Rose wasn’t really any of the things Martha had built her up to be. _Of course. Of course she wasn’t._ Martha’s version of Rose had been a fantasy—an assumption based on a few words from the Doctor. On words like “blonde” and “not that you’re replacing her.”

It wasn’t that she was ugly or disfigured. She was just… she was normal. Her roots were showing and—if the four empty mugs were any indication—she drank too much coffee.

“Hello,” Rose said. She flashed a hesitant smile. “You must be Martha.”

“That’s me.” Martha climbed into the rigid seat and set her purse down on the table. “Have you… been here long?”

Rose glanced down at the empty coffee mugs. “Oh, you know the Doctor,” she said, gesturing vaguely at the air. “Four hours early is actually quite good for him.”

Martha “hmmed” in understanding, but the back of her neck prickled uncomfortably. She hadn’t heard anything from the Doctor for years, so Rose’s out-of-the-blue invitation for coffee had been a shock. She had a feeling that when people were trapped in parallel worlds, they were supposed to _stay_ there.

She felt a pressure on her wrist and looked up to see that Rose had placed a hand over hers.

“I just… I called you to say…” Rose trailed off, mouth slowly closing. She looked like she had no idea how to finish the sentence.

She seemed like she was close to saying ‘thank you’—something Martha didn’t want to hear. Traveling with the Doctor hadn’t been out of _duty_ —it had been her decision to make. Just like it had been her decision to leave.

“That’s okay,” Martha said gently. “It’s… really good to meet you.”

Martha had no idea if that was the truth, but Rose seemed to believe it.

“Me, too,” Rose said. “It’s hard, yeah? You spend all that time traveling around with him and suddenly there you are, back on planet earth, and there’s no one else you can tell. Those things you see… and you can’t tell another person, not if you don’t want them to think you’re mad.”

Martha ran one finger along the corner of the tabletop. She winced at the grime collecting under her nail; leftover sugar and cinnamon. A café like this—it was nice. It was normal. It was so not how she had spent her time with the Doctor.

She was beginning to grasp why Rose had called her.

“I told my family,” Martha said. “And they tried to understand, but the Doctor… he’s not like anyone I’ll ever meet again.”

Rose nodded, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. She hesitated and then said, “I practically had to beat your name out of him. He never…”

“Says anything,” Martha finished. “Not unless he has to.”

Rose smiled tentatively. “I’m really glad he had someone. That was the worst thing—that first year without him. I kept thinking of him in the TARDIS, all alone.”

Rose ducked her head, not quite managing to hide her watery eyes.

Martha searched around for something to say.

“He talked about you all the time,” she blurted.

Rose’s head snapped up.

“Really?” she said. A small smile played at her mouth. “He talked about me?”

“Yeah,” Martha said, an edge creeping into her tone. “I think he was quite… devastated when he lost you.”

She didn’t have to add that if she couldn’t compete with a Rose Tyler who’d been sucked into a parallel universe, there was no way she could compete with one who’d come _back_ from that universe.

“Oh,” she said. She blinked and then said, more slowly, “ _Oh_.”

Martha flushed and looked away.

“He didn’t mention anything,” Rose said quietly. “I’m sorry. I can go if you want.”

“No,” Martha said. She took a deep breath. “I’m over it. Him, I mean. Really, I am. It’s just… sometimes it comes back. But I have my own life now—a wonderful, amazing life. I’m a doctor,” she added. “I’ve got my own framed degree and everything to prove it. I’m even thinking about setting up my own practice.”

“That’s great!” Rose said. “I always thought it might be nice, owning something of my own. It was probably because I worked in a shop, back before I met the Doctor.”

_A shop?_

Martha felt some surprise, but tried to hide it. Nothing about Rose fit the pieces she’d put together in her mind. She remembered the Doctor taking her to see Shakespeare, lying close to her on that bed and only saying, _Rose’d know_. But Rose had worked in a shop and Rose wore too much makeup and Rose was nothing like Annalise.

Martha wished she could slink down into her seat and disappear. There was nothing wrong with working in a shop, she reminded herself. She hadn’t worked for that medical degree to look down on others.

Rose was beginning to get more animated.

“But being on the TARDIS, that’s where I belong. It’s not that it’s easy. ‘Cause it’s not. I think of my mum out there, my entire family—they’re having this life, yeah? And I know they’re alive, but I’ll never be able to see them again. They’re there, just out of reach. Like… it’s like when you see something in a mirror, just out of the corner of your eye, but when you turn around, it’s gone.”

A lump gathered in Martha’s throat. She didn’t know what to say. She tried to imagine leaving her family behind on another world. Mum, Dad, Tish, Leo… not ever knowing how they were doing. It would probably drive her mad.

Rose stopped talking and sheepishly stuck a biscuit into her mouth. “Sorry,” she mumbled, dribbling some crumbs down her shirt. “It’s just been a long time since I’ve had anybody but the Doctor to talk to. And it’s hard—bringing this sort of stuff up with him.”

Martha felt an odd rush of affection. “I know what you mean.”

Rose beamed, swallowing the rest of her biscuit. She leaned forward, and said in a whisper, “And I’ll tell you something else.”

Martha raised her eyebrows, and moved in closer. “What’s that?”

“Makes him nervous when his companions get together,” Rose said. She tilted her head in the direction of the windows.

Martha glanced over—just in time to see a head popping down out of sight. She turned back to Rose. “Oh, you’re kidding me.”

Rose shook her head, face solemn. “I think he’s been there for hours. Said he was heading out to replace his trainers.” She rolled her eyes. “I’m not _that_ thick.”

Martha took a moment to ponder where, exactly, the Doctor _did_ buy his trainers before focusing on Rose again. “Can he hear us?”

Rose glanced suspiciously at the windows. “Of course not,” she said unconvincingly.

They looked at each other, eyes wide. Rose clamped a hand to her mouth, doing a poor job of holding back a giggle. Martha burst out laughing.

***

Martha didn’t know how long they talked for, but she was on her third coffee when she realized she’d let go of her reservations.

“I can’t believe you met Shakespeare,” Rose crowed. “And you were chased away by Queen Elizabeth? God, it’s like he’s making a habit of it.” She shook her head. “Sounds like the pair of you had fun together.”

Martha’s smile slipped. “I suppose,” she said.

She carefully refrained from telling Rose about the rest of it. She didn’t want her to know she’d been a maid in 1913, scrubbing the floor on her hands and knees while the Doctor fell in love with someone else. She didn’t want Rose to know about how she’d traveled the world for a year, all on her own, seeing and doing things that still gave her nightmares.

Martha pressed her fingers to her eyes and took a few breaths. She hadn’t lied before—she _was_ happy. She had a fantastic job. She had a bloke of her own, one who adored her.

“Martha?”

“Yeah, brilliant,” Martha said, forcing out a smile. “It was brilliant, traveling with him.”

Rose peered at her oddly, and she opened her mouth to say something, but Martha rushed to interrupt.

“I’m really glad you came back,” Martha said, eager to change the subject. “When I was with him… he wasn’t happy. It was like something in him was broken.”

Rose gave a sad smile. “I know the feeling.”

There was a crash from somewhere behind her, and she glanced over her shoulder to see that the Doctor had banged into one of the tables in what had, presumably, been an inconspicuous attempt to spy on them. He furrowed his brow and righted the table, looking like he was considering trying to hide behind it again.

Rose looked amused. “Martha, you remember Mr. Subtle, don’t you?”

The Doctor gave up on the table and came over to glower at them, glancing from one to the other in suspicion.

“Doctor,” Martha greeted, raising her eyebrows. “You look good.”

“Made him get rid of the blue suit,” Rose said, giving him a clear ‘what-were-you-thinking’ look.

“Oh, that was new, was it?” Martha said. “Never really thought it matched the coat.”

The Doctor’s eyes zinged back and forth between them, expression growing more and more worried. “Um, yes. Hello! Fancy meeting you two here. Martha.” He gave an awkward nod in her direction. “How’s med school?”

“Graduated,” Martha said. “About two years ago, now.”

There was an awkward silence, and then the Doctor said. “Ahh. Right.”

Rose shot him a look, and said, “So you’re done replacing your supply of trainers, are you? What did you buy?”

There was a momentary flash of panic on the Doctor’s face, but he pulled himself together and managed, “Oh… lots of… stuff. Stored them in my pockets. Would probably take years to find them. Are those biscuits?”

Rose batted his hands away as Martha coughed out the word “liar.” The Doctor’s head snapped around so quickly, he nearly fell over.

“Relax,” Rose said, hopping off the seat and putting a hand on his arm. “You’ll sprain something. We didn’t talk about you. Much.”

The Doctor opened his mouth in indignation, and then caught a glimpse of something over Rose’s head. “Oh, that’s bad.”

Rose blinked. “What?”

“I may…” the Doctor swallowed and pointedly avoided Rose’s eyes, “have had some… words. With the local law enforcement.”

“Oh, no,” Rose said. “What did you do?”

“It’s… it’s probably nothing,” the Doctor said. He paused, and then said, “There might have been some… loitering.”

“ _Some_?” Rose hissed. “You were there for hours—oh, don’t even pretend that you weren’t—”

“I have no idea what you’re implying! I was… buying shoes!”

“Okay, then!” Martha said loudly, trying to shake the feeling that Rose and the Doctor had completely forgotten about her. “I’ll take that as my cue to go.”

Martha slid off her seat, silently adding that the _last_ thing she wanted was to bear witness to some sort of strange foreplay ritual. Rose was busy trying to dig through the Doctor’s pockets while he ineffectively tried to avoid her. She thought she even heard the Doctor try to defend himself by claiming, “The ducks were quacking.”

Before she could get far, Rose pushed the Doctor out of the way and leapt forward to hug her. Martha froze, arms hanging awkwardly by her sides. Slowly, the last few hours filtered back to her and she relaxed, hugging Rose back.

“Call,” Rose said. “Anytime.”

“You, too,” Martha said. “If you’re going crazy or you just want a home-cooked meal… or, you know, you sprain an ankle from all that running.”

“Thanks,” Rose said, squeezing her once before releasing her.

“Speaking of running,” the Doctor cut in. “That might, actually, be a wise course of action.” He turned to Martha. “Looks like you’re getting along brilliantly. Lovely seeing you again.”

“You, too,” Martha said.

He opened his arms and said, “Ahh, come on. One more for the road, Martha Jones.”

She grinned and leaned in to hug him. Rose pointedly looked at the ceiling and waited patiently. For about three seconds.

“Um, Doctor?” she said. “I think running now would be a really good idea.”

The faint sounds of police sirens reached their ears.

The Doctor released Martha and sent her a grin before grabbing Rose’s hand. “Right you are. TARDIS is just around the corner. Left it sitting in a nice park. Under a tree, mind you, so it shouldn’t warm up too much in the sun—”

“Yeah, that’s nice,” Rose interrupted. “Time to go. Right about… now.” Rose charged forward first and the Doctor stumbled to keep up with her.

They were at the doors when Rose turned around to wave goodbye, laughing as the Doctor pulled her out of the door and around the corner.

Martha felt a small twinge of envy, but she pushed it away and reached for her purse. Oh, she missed traveling with the Doctor. She always would. But she had her own office—a _real_ office, with patients who depended on her to look after them. She had a decent-sized flat and a bloke who cooked her pancakes Saturday mornings. She wouldn’t change that for anything.

But… she reached for her cell phone and flipped it open, grinning as she scrolled through her contacts. She _did_ still have the TARDIS on speed-dial. It was nice to know that aliens and adventure were only the push of a button away.

Martha laughed to herself and made sure to leave a generous tip on the table behind her.  



End file.
